Anima Animus
by The Iron Import
Summary: A writing experiment, focusing on Krieg/Maya interactions, as well as the power struggle inside Kriegs mind.
1. Bandits

Writing legend:

Kriegs spoken word; ALL CAPITALS, ALL THE TIME!

Kriegs Inner monologue: **Bolded sections.**

Everyone Else: Normal typing with quotation marks.

Anima, Animus.

A Borderlands Story.

I woke up, squinting into the desert sun. I would say that I'm confused as to how and why I'm here, but this happens more frequently then I'd like to admit. Looking down, I notice that my hands and pants are smeared with blood, maybe mine but I can't be sure yet, all I know is that I'm standing in the middle of a pile of bandits bodies again.

**Hey, meatbag. Had fun did we?**

**Oh well, I guess I can't blame you for it can I.**

"Woke up" might not be the right term for what just happened. If I was sane, I would probably say something like "Let me start at the beginning..." But I'm not really sure when the beginning was. My memory is limited in the specifics department, only remembering the important things or constants in my life. I am affectionately known as a "Psycho." Nice eh? It basically means I'm a perversion of the Berserker style of life. Great risk, with great rewards. Immense energy expenditure allows me to overwhelm opponents, charge in for the one-hit-kill. Usually taking damage in the process. Damage taken fuels the frenzy. It's really a perpetual spiral that drives itself into one of two outcomes. I die, not pleasurable, but it hasn't happened yet. Or this happens. I regain consciousness in the middle of a battlefield, injured and bloodied trying to piece together where and when I left off.

**Oh gods, this has got to stop.**

**Alright, look around, let me take a look at you, check for injuries that need attention.**

TIME WAITS NOT FOR THE GLORY OF THE BLOODY CARNIVAL!

**Fantastic. Shut up, and let me keep us alive, okay?**

GRRRAHH! MINI MEDIC KEEP US ALIVE UNTIL PURPLE!

**Thank you, just show me our body. Use some of that water to wash the blood off so I can actually see if we need fixing.**

After forcing myself to hold out my arms and check all the vitals, everything looks to be in one piece. Hopefully I can find some good loot on these guys then figure out where the hell I am.

**Hey, still here? Look around, grab any food they have, then lets get away from here and find our bearings.**

After checking all the bandits, and finding nothing more than a tough hunk of bread and some old condensed milk cans, I figure it's about time for a break. Sit down, eat, and try to remember who I am.

**Mmm... I know we have a name, but I don't know what it is. But we're looking for someone... Not to kill, we need to find this person.**

LOVELY LADY IN MY CHEST, MUST BE HANNUKA!

**Oddly enough, that was actually helpful. We need to find a girl, she's important because of something.** **I'll come back to that. Alright, we ate, now lets get out of here, find a hill or something to climb so I can get a good look around.**

BUT THE RAVENS BEAK IS A TIN HAT OF GLORY! I WANT TO SAW IT OFF!

**Umm... I don't know what you want... Wait a moment.**

Knowing he won't listen to me until I at least try to figure out his ramblings, I start to look around for something bird like, or silvery... or made of metal. I'll probably have to break it off, whatever it is.

I grumbled around under the hot sun for a few minutes before a shine caught the corner of my eye, and I swung my head around to see a half-buried contraption that looked like a curved baseball bat with a table-saw blade attached to it, welded into a sleeve to allow it to spin freely.

**Shiny... A shiny saw. A fricken' axe? That's it! You couldn't have said AXE? Unbelievable. Just get us out of here before we die from the heat.**

PUT IT IN MY SPEEN SO I CAN BLEED WEAPONS!

**I'll take that as you liking it. I agree, it suits us.**

Spotting a hill in the distance, I decided to start walking to burn off some frustration. As angry as I was about the incoherent nature of my dominant half, he did a good job at picking an attractive weapon. As far as melee goes, this will just about win every battle you put it in. Looking it over, the previous owner cared for it, but didn't use it very often. It was mostly brown wood, the metal painted blue and red with the banner "BLITZKRIEG CO." stencilled into the side, but some of the letters were worn out. Leaving just the word "KRIEG" to be seen. As we reached the top of the slope, it turned into a rocky cliff face, giving an outlook on most of the surroundings for a few hours walk in any direction. Looking back to the pile of bodies left behind, then back out, spotting a train station. I figure it might as well be a good place to focus on so we don't get lost.

**See that station? Follow the tracks so we don't end up walking in circles like last time.**

I said this, assuming he would listen, but he was standing dumbly at the top of a hill, still staring into the letters etched on his newfound weapon.

**Hey, look up so I can show you where we're going.**

YOU SHOW ME A BUCKET, AND I'LL SHOW YOU A BUCKET!

A PRETTY TRINKET FOR NAMELESS! A BAD NAMELESS.

**Oh you want a name? Too bad, we don't have a name. **

The massive figure hunched over the axe, peering at it with his one uncovered eye, concentrating hard at it.

WE HAVE, KRIEG... KRIEG...

**Krieg? War? Huh, figures. I guess I see your point.**

Feeling satisfied at his contribution, the newly named Krieg climbed down the front of the rock-face, and made his way to the tracks, humming as he tossed the axe up, letting it complete a full turn before catching its handle again. Now relaxed, the two voices quieted as they made their way slowly towards the distant station.


	2. Desert Sun

Writing legend:

Kriegs spoken word; ALWAYS CAPS, ALL THE TIME.

Kriegs inner monologue; **Bolded sections.**

Everyone else; Normal typing with quotation marks.

Before the story actually starts...

In reality, I never meant to do anything with this story. It was mostly an interesting thing to do in my pasttime. However, that being said I've grown rather fond of the idea, and I'm going to continue writing. Now that I have a laptop and the time to write, I'll do more and try to come out with pieces more frequently. After being one of the many infatuated with "A meat bycicle for two," I quicky fell in love with these two as a unit, so while I will be including the others into the story. I intend to mainly focus on these two, and try to provide as good and interesting story as I can. Almost immediately after discovering this idea of Maya/Krieg, I also discovered an unfortunate lack of their coupling in fanfiction, and even the Borderlands story base as a whole. So while I may be pandering to a smaller interest group, any of you who sees this, I hope I can improve upon the market of fanfiction, as it were.

Now enough ranting.

Anima, Animus.

Chapter Two.

MY LEG STICKS ARE BURNING

**I feel them too... **

WHY DO WE DO

**Look, I can't do anything about it okay? The desert is always hot. It's not because of us.**

The two were silent after that. The inner, trying to deal with the pain of walking on desert sand for two full days, and the outer just at a lack of response to his ironclad argument.

**Alright, we've been walking forever, I actually forget what being fed feels like, I'm certain there's a village, or colony nearby... At this rate, I'll even take bandits.**

Krieg breathed deeply, and opened his mouth to yell a response, but before he could say anything a giant worm erupted from the ground, leaping straight at his chest, knocking him backwards and into the sand. Gasping for breath and looking around in confusion, trying to make sense of the blurred mess, Krieg looked to the right, and saw his axe less then an arms length away, half buried in the sand. Gathering a burst of strength, Krieg let out a harrowing bellow and lunged, grabbing his axe and rolling onto his feet, standing upright in a balanced fighting pose, ready to defend himself. Looking around for the beast to reemerge, his vision started blurring.

**Hey, snap out of it, we're fine.**

STARS...

**No, we've come too damn far to die like this, you're a warrior so pull yourself together!**

SHOW YOURSELF DEATH TUBE, I WANNA SMEAR YOUR ENTRAILS ON MY EYEBALLS!

Krieg shakes his head, and puts the heel of his palm to his forehead, wiping the sweat off of his brow, and regripping his axe handle, brandishing it in front of him.

**That's the spirit!**

The ground started shaking, and Kriegs entire frame begun vibrating as he clamped his mouth shut to stop his teeth from chattering. The worm burst from the sand, and brings its body upright, bending his head down to become the same size as Krieg.

**Now!**

Krieg unleashes a ferocious scream and charges the worm, swinging his axe diagonally at the worms left eye, hoping to blind the beast and buy them a fighting chance. But the worm leans back, and swings his head at Krieg, ducking under the axe and hitting him square in the chest.

Falling to his knees, struggling to stay concious, Krieg leans down on all fours, gasping for air.

**Just take a moment, this can't be the end... Krieg come on... Pull yourself... together... no... not like this...**

Krieg falls onto his side, barely awake, and looks up as the massive shadow looms over him. He tilts his head to meet its eye, but suddenly it looks terrified, and quicky turns to dive back into the sand, tunneling away.

Allowing himself a moment of confusion, he stares blankly before he hears the slow approach of cautious footsteps, seeing the shadow of a head.

He makes a last ditch effort to get up, but everything fades to black, and he hits the sand out cold.

Maya grips her gun tightly, shifting her trigger finger closer just in case, as she approaches the massive body on the ground. Flipping him onto his back, she stands back and points the gun at his corpse, ready to fire if he shows any sign of agression.

"Just another psycho, should've known."

She reshoulders the gun, and prepares to fire when the body starts tossing like he's having a bad dream. Maya pauses and leans in closer, hoping to hear what he's saying.

**No, no, they're innocent. Remember our deal, we only kill the deserving. Do you remember almost killing her? You were out of control... No... No more. I can't... I can't take it... Stop... No, keep control! No they'll only hurt us more!**

Maya jumps back as all of his muscles tighten and his eyes bolt open.

GWAHAHHA THE DOCTOR IS IN, IT'S KILLING TIME!

Krieg begins to start yelling some more, but it fades out, and he gradually quiets down and untenses his muscles until he looks as if he's slumbering peacefully with only a minor twitch every once in awhile.

"I can't kill you, there's something in there. Come on big guy, my camps not far from here, just outside the desert."

She looks around, and grabs an old hood that of fell off of a car long ago, and looks like it's been sitting here ever since.

"One of Scooters hunk of junks, no doubt."

She mumbles, groaning under the strain of pulling a body twice her size onto the makeshift sled. Holstering her gun, she grabs the front grill and starts to pull the unconcious form away towards the forest rising in the distance.

She wonders what she's doing, caring about this stranger she hasn't even met yet. Trying to understand why she doesn't just kill him now and save possible trouble later. But looking back at him, she sees he's curled into a ball, hugging his axe like a teddy bear, and she can't help but smile.

"Geeze, I'm going to have to restrain you until I know you're not a threat. For my own safety. But even though you're big, you remind me of the child I was never allowed to be."

She chuckled to herself before turning her attention back to the task at hand. Even though It fell upon deaf ears, it's still nice to talk to someone for once, she reasons with her unconcious.


	3. Introductions

Note: Alright, there's been a large gap since the last part of this story, but I feel it's high time that the whole schebang was continued, and I hope to upload more frequently. Since last I wrote, I've gotten used to a different format, so this might read differently than my other ones. Anyways, enjoy.

Legend:

Krieg's spoken word; Always caps. (Unless specified)

Krieg's inner monologue; Italic-&amp;-bolded sections.

Everyone else; Normal dialogue.

Anima; Animus

A Borderlands Story

I woke up, squinting into a bright light, wondering how the hell someone can experience this much pain without going crazy. Being crazy myself, I guess that's a dumb question, but the point remains valid. As my eyes adjust to the increase in light, and my mind tries to numb out some of the pain, the scene around me begins to come into focus and sort itself out. I guess the big guy isn't awake yet, else his screaming would have made me jump already, but even in this catatonic stupor, my body begins to lessen its misery and I'm able to focus properly on my surroundings. Even without moving, I can feel the restraints on my arms and chest, pulling me tight into the wall behind me firm but not painfully. It's a medium sized room, looks like a repurposed supply depot, pipes over cement walls, with very little in the way of natural furnishing. All the niceties of a normal home must have been brought in to make the place more livable. I seem to be alone, but judging by the roasting coffee on the stove, I don't expect to stay that way very long.

_**Hey, wake up.**_

The hulking mass of skin and bloody clothes begins shifting, a low groan coming out of him as he slowly rights himself and begins to squint, blinking and looking around in mild confusion.

_**There you go, now easy does it. We're hurt and tied up, so don't make any sudden moves that could make everything worse. And for the love of the gods, don't scream anything. The last thing we need is to announce our vulnerability to every bandit with a gun in our vicinity.**_

The body seems to relax, slumping into a more comfortable position against the piping, a dazed and passive look across his masked face.

There's a rustling outside, and the figure turns his head, trying to locate the source of the sound. The wooden door in the corner opens, and a slender figure appears, carrying a backpack and a hunting rifle. She calmly steps through the entrance closing it quietly behind her, places her rucksack on the counter, and begins to rifle through the contents, putting cans and bottles into cupboards. After she's done, she leans the rifle up against a wall and turns to the man tied up across the room. Kneeling down about a meter away from him, she smiles.

"I see you're up then. Good, I wasn't sure whether you were going to wake up or not after the pounding."

Seeing his added movement, she quickly adds, "Try not to speak, your jaw was broken. I put it back in place, but it'll need a few days of healing."

_**Alright, big guy. Now, listen to me very carefully… She is the most beautiful person I've ever seen. And I do not want you to say anything! If she kills us, I swear I will never speak to you again.**_

She gets up and crosses the room to a table with a bowl of soup and spoon on it. Grabbing both, she returns to the man and fixes him with a stare. "Now be gentle," she says, dipping the spoon into the soup and holding it out in front of his face. He looks as if he's going to try biting the spoon in two, but seems to calm down and tenderly leans forward to meet the spoon, sipping its contents and swallowing. After repeating this process until the bowl is empty, he sinks back against the wall and sighs contentedly.

"See, I knew you could understand me," she exclaims with a giggle. "I'm Maya, by the way. Now, we need to get you cleaned up. I don't want to have saved your ass just for you to die of infection. Hey, focus! I'm going to have to take off your bandages and clothes to clean your wounds." At that, his eyes shoot open, and he gives a gruff laugh at the thought. "Hey, I see you thinking it. No funny business or I will phaselock you into oblivion, got it?" Suddenly appearing terrified, he swallows then slowly nods up and down.

After removing his arm bandages, restraint ropes, and chest harness, she reaches to his neck, and begins untying the many necklaces he has. Taking them into her hand, she looks at the collection. All of them appear similar in style, simple bands of leather or cable, except one. She removes the rest, handing them back to Krieg and holds it up to the light. This one appears much more lovingly made. More professional and with a small, flat piece of metal attached to the end, almost like a military dog tag, but much more simplistic.

"K," she says, reading the indentation on the front "Well until I learn your proper name, that's what I'll call you." Flipping it over reveals a short sequence of numbers pressed in an identical font to the letter on the front. Turning around, he looks away, his eyes glassing over. K stands up next to her, and for the first time, she realizes how truly massive this man is. He towers over her like a wall of muscles that could snap her in two without even exerting himself. But even so, he seems tame and gentle at the moment, making very long and slow movements, keeping his distance from Maya.

"This seems important to you," she says, holding out the necklace out for him to take. He gingerly reaches out and grips the cord, hastily putting it in one of his many pants pockets.

"I know you probably don't hold much sentiment, and will be moving on soon. But while you're still healing, you can stay here. One wrong move, and I'll kill you myself. I still don't know how much I can trust you." She points her finger at him, emphasizing her skepticism then laughs at her own statement, walking over to the stove to pour the coffee. "Do you like coffee at all? There's probably enough here for two cups."

He shakes his head, and she turns back around, shrugs, and finishes the pot off.

The spent the day together, mostly involving her talking at him, or giving him yes and no questions. Living alone in a forest shack allowed Maya to have a lot of stories to tell, and Krieg couldn't complain. Listening to her talk was good enough, his infatuation growing as they became more comfortable around each other. And although the dominant side of him dictated their actions, his inner self took no issue as long as he didn't shout obscenities or try to kill her. Soon it was evening, and the both of them were tired out from the day.

"You can take that couch, if you don't want to sleep on the floor." Maya said, as she pointed to an old plaid couch that looked beat up, though comfy. Krieg nodded, walking over to it, and sitting down.

Suddenly, the door bursts open, and a group of bandits run in, guns raised and pointed at the both of them.

The largest bandit reaches up to his face, pulls down the mask covering his mouth and yells, "Alright, both of you are coming out. Don't try to make a fuss or we'll shoot you right here!"

Krieg freezes, nowhere near a weapon and still weak from his injuries. He glances at Maya who is also frozen in place, calculating her next move.

One of the smaller bandits looks back at Krieg, "What do we do about this psycho heh?" The leader laughs once and says, "The boss is only paying us for one body today." The small one turns back and raises his gun, aiming at Krieg's upper torso.

"No!" Maya shouts, he arm glowing blue as she reaches towards the bandit. A ball of blue energy explodes between the two, blowing the bandits into each other, and Krieg through the wall opposite. Maya sprints, grabbing her Maliwan as she runs towards the freshly made hole. She hops out, scanning for Krieg as the bandits untangle themselves. "Get them, no one escapes or I'll kill you myself!" The bandit shouts at his underlings. Seeing Krieg pop his head up from behind a large cement barrier, she runs and vaults over the top of it, dropping down next to Krieg.

"Are you okay?" She asks as the bandits pepper the barrier with shots.

He nods his head, "Good, alright give me a second and I'll think of a way out of here. See that box next to the chopping log with the axe in it? Grab the axe for yourself, and bring the box over here. But be careful with it." Krieg runs over, moving as fast as he can while keeping his body low. Maya peers around the side of their cover, scanning the battlefield for the bandit's positions. Krieg kneels back down beside her, handing her the box, and readying his axe. She smiles as she opens the case, revealing a homemade bomb, created from a cluster of grenades welded to a small digital clock in the middle.

"This will definitely give us the advantage. My Runner is at the other side of the house, so we're going to have to distract those guys, then make a break for it. But it won't be easy. That's a pretty far way to run while just hoping they don't hit us. I'll set the timer for fifteen seconds, we'll throw it just before it goes, then run while they're recovering. We'll go to the hanger, and use the Runner to escape to the nearest village." She begins to arm the bomb, setting the timer up. Krieg reaches into his pocket and pulls out his necklace. He looks at the number, then flips it, looks at the K and remembers.

'_**K' that's us, right? We're K. K for Krieg? No, not Krieg, but it's close… **_

Krieg looks up at Maya, and smiles as a tear falls from his eye.

_**She's beautiful, isn't she?**_

Maya starts the timer on the bomb just as Krieg places his hands over the back of her neck. "As lovely as this massage is, now is hardly the time and we have more impor…" her voice trails off as he retracts his hands. She feels the weight of something hit her chest and looks down to see a glimmer of light reflected off of his tag, now strung around her neck. Her mouth falls open and she looks up at him.

Krieg glances down at the bomb, seven seconds left, and he throws it over the barrier. Ducking back behind the cover he takes his hand and places it on her cheek. Leaning in near her face until they are only hairs apart. They forgot that they were fighting for their lives. The world faded away, the leaves rustling in the background, so clear you could count each hair. They disappeared, hushed by the single moment happening. There weren't bandits trying to kill them, they were on a distant moon, in a peaceful grove with a lake nearby. Looking at her soft expression, he smiles and opens his mouth slightly. Leaning in, he whispers, "Run."

The world came crashing down as the bomb exploded. Time slowed as Krieg screamed and hurled himself over the barrier, raising his axe high as he charged at the stunned bandits. She sprinted for the hanger that her Runner was is, not turning back but silently hoping that Krieg would be okay.

She reaches the hanger and opens the side door. Getting into the driver's seat, she turns the key and the motor roars to life. After leaving it idle for a minute, she shifts in her seat, mutter to herself, "Come on, K. You're making me nervous here." Just as she's about to get out and go look for him, she hears a rattling of the front door. Shouldering her gun, she looks down the scopes and takes a deep breath.

With a loud noise the door is thrown open and the setting sun pours in, blinding her. A massive figure appears in the doorway, silhouetted by the intense light. His head turns towards Maya, and he steps forwards into the room.


End file.
